Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games

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Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games

The Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games in Olympia is housed in a building erected in the 1880s between the modern city and the archaeological site. The building initially housed the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, one of the first provincial museums in Greece with historical treasures such the Hermes of Praxiteles, the Victory of Paionius, the sculptural decoration of the temple of Zeus and dozens more findings. Since the late 1970s, all these exquisite finds of Olympia are exhibited at the New Archaeological Museum of Olympia. In view of Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the abandoned museum was renovated and since March 23, 2004 is the official Museum of the Olympic Games of Antiquity. At the beginning of 2019, an important project was completed with the remodeling of the archaeological exhibition and the upgrading and enrichment of the halls and showcases.

The exhibition deals with important chapters in the more than thousand-year history of the Olympic and the other Pan-Hellenic games (Pythia, Isthmia, Nemea and Panathenaea) such as the prehistory and the beginning of the games in Olympia, the worship of Zeus, the preparation of the athletes, women and sports in ancient Greece, etc. More than 400 exhibits are presented in thematic groups, the majority of which come from Olympia but on display are also many ancient works from other important archaeological sites and ancient cities of Greece. These works include clay vases, statues, mosaics, bronze figurines, equipment for athletes and many other objects. All of them have been granted in the form of long-term loans by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and cover a large chronological spectrum from the second millennium BC up to the 5th century A.D. The basement of the museum is equipped with a digital exhibition, mostly available for schools and educational institutes. In these halls students can be educated about the Games in antiquity through scientific multimedia content.

Among the exhibits, there are two valuable objects of the Athens Olympic Games in 1896. These are the two prizes that were awarded to Spyros Louis, the first Olympian of the first road Marathon, the silver Bréal cup and the ancient black-figure skypho of Ioannis Lambros. These two objects function as a symbolic bridge that connects the Ancient Olympic Games with the first Olympic Games of modern era.